mass

a quantity of matter forming a body of indefinite shape and size, usually of relatively large size; lump

a large quantity or number: a mass of bruises

bulk; size; magnitude

the main or larger part; majority

Painting a large area or form of one color, shade, intensity, etc.

Pharmacy the paste or plastic combination of drugs from which pills are made

Physics the quantity of matter in a body as measured by its inertia; the ratio of force to the acceleration produced by that force: the gravitational force on an object is proportional to its mass: abbrev. m

Origin of mass

Middle English masse from Old French from Classical Latin massa, a lump, mass from Classical Greek maza, barley cake from massein, to knead from Indo-European base an unverified form menk-, to knead from source mingle

of a large number of things; large-scale: mass production

of a large number of persons: a mass demonstration

of, characteristic of, or for the masses: mass media

to gather or form into a mass

mass Idioms

in the mass

collectively; as a whole

the masses

the great mass of common people; specif., the working people, or the lower classes in the social order

Mass

the Roman Catholic Eucharistic rite consisting of prayers and ceremonies centered on the consecration of bread and wine as a real though mystical reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross: with differing doctrinal interpretations, the term has sometimes been used of the Eucharistic rite of other denominations

a musical setting for certain parts of this rite

Origin of Mass

Middle English masse from Old English mæsse from Ecclesiastical Late Latin missa, mass, literally , dismissal, origin, originally past participle of Classical Latin mittere, to dismiss from the words said by the priest ite, missa est (contio), go, (the meeting) is dismissed

mass

noun

A unified body of matter with no specific shape: a mass of clay.

A grouping of individual parts or elements that compose a unified body of unspecified size or quantity: “Take mankind in mass, and for the most part, they seem a mob of unnecessary duplicates” ( Herman Melville )

A large but nonspecific amount or number: a mass of bruises.

A lump or aggregate of coherent material: a cancerous mass.

The principal part; the majority: the mass of the continent.

The physical volume or bulk of a solid body.

Abbr. mPhysics A property of matter equal to the measure of the amount of matter contained in or constituting a physical body that partly determines the body's resistance to changes in the speed or direction of its motion. The mass of an object is not dependent on gravity and therefore is different from but proportional to its weight.

An area of unified light, shade, or color in a painting.

Pharmacology A thick, pasty mixture containing drugs from which pills are formed.

(physics) The quantity of matter which a body contains, irrespective of its bulk or volume. It is one of four fundamental properties of matter. It is measured in kilograms in the SI system of measurement.

In late Middle English (circa 1400) as masse in the sense of "lump, quantity of matter", from Anglo-Normanmasse, in Old French attested from the 11th century, via late Latinmassa (“lump, dough"), from Ancient Greek Î¼á¾¶Î¶Î± (maza, “barley-cake, lump (of dough)"). The Greek noun is derived from the verb Î¼Î¬ÏƒÏƒÏ‰ (mÃ¡ssÅ, “to knead"), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European*mag'- (“to oil, knead"). The sense of "a large number or quantity" arises circa 1580. The scientific sense is from 1687 (as Latin massa) in the works of Isaac Newton, with the first English use (as mass) occurring in 1704.

From Middle English masse, from Old English mÃ¦sse (“the mass, church festival"), from Vulgar Latin *messa, from Late Latin missa, noun use of feminine past participle of classical Latinmittere (“to send"). Compare Dutchmis (“mass"), GermanMesse (“mass"), Danishmesse (“mass"), Icelandicmessa (“mass"). More at mission.

From Old English masse, messe, Old English mÃ¦sse. Late Latin missa, from Latinmittere, missum, to send, dismiss: compare Frenchmesse. In the ancient churches, the public services at which the catechumens were permitted to be present were called missa catechumenorum, ending with the reading of the Gospel. Then they were dismissed with these words: "Ite, missa est", the congregation is dismissed. After that the sacrifice proper began. At its close the same words were said to those who remained. So the word gave the name of Mass to the sacrifice in the Catholic Church. Compare Christmas, Lammas, Mess a dish, Missal